Page 93 of Vodka and Violets (The Hamiltons)

By the time they were finished going over all of the paperwork, Tori was glad to get out of there. Xander slung his arm around her shoulders once they were back out on the street.

“What do you want to do? Are you ready to go home, or do you want to have an early dinner at the resort?”

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

It was still nice enough that they were able to sit outside on the deck overlooking the water. Tori sat back in her seat and lifted her face to the sun.

“Are you okay?” Xander asked.

“I’m fine. I’m just enjoying the sunshine. How are you? How did your day go?”

“I’m good. I feel better for hitting the gym. Oh, Damon suggested someone to work behind the bar.”

She opened her eyes and leaned forward. “Who? Anyone we know?”

“Not exactly. Jade. She’s Austin’s girlfriend’s sister.”

“The name sounds familiar, but I don’t know if I’ve met her. Austin’s girlfriend is Amber, isn’t she?”

Xander nodded. “Apparently. I don’t know her, either.”

“I’ve met her – she works at the post office. She’s lovely. She’s a bit quiet, though. If her sister’s anything like her, then I’m not sure that we’ll want her for the bar.” She gave him a rueful smile.

“It doesn’t sound as though she is like her sister.” Xander chuckled. “In fact, putting two and two together, I’d say that Amber and Jade might be like you and Willow. From what Damon told me, Jade’s like Kenzie.”

Tori laughed at that. “In that case, yes! That’s the kind of energy we want behind the bar. I mean, you’re outgoing, I’m the calm and soothing one, we want someone with a bit of … spunk.”

“That’s what I figured.”

“Have you spoken to her?”

Xander shook his head. “I didn’t want to until I ran it by you first.”

“Well, I think it’s a great idea – if she’s even interested.”

“Damon said that she’s looking for work. She’s been helping out behind the bar in Taryn’s restaurant, but they don’t need her going into the quiet season.”

“Well, we need her – at least, we need someone. Do you have her number?”

“I don’t. I was going to get it from Dallas.” He gave her a rueful smile. “But like I said, I wanted to talk to you about it first, and without doing that, I didn’t want you wondering why I was asking him for some girl’s number.”

Tori laughed. “I wouldn’t have wondered – I would have asked.”

He reached across the table and took her hand. “I don’t want you to need to ask.”

“Thank you. You don’t need to worry, though. I’ve told you before, and I mean it – I don’t feel insecure with you or about you, not in any way.”

“Good, because you have no reason to.” He frowned. “I don’t feel insecure about you, either. That doesn’t mean I’m taking anything for granted. I …”

She laughed. “I know. It’s all good. We love each other, we trust each other, there’s nothing for either of us to worry about.”

Just as they were finishing eating, Kenzie came walking across the deck with a big smile on her face. “Hey, you two! It’s good to see you taking a break. How are things coming at the bar?”

“It’s all coming together,” said Tori. “And Xander now has a lead on someone to help out behind the bar. I know I told you that we were going to wait and see if we needed more help, but I think it’s a good idea to start out strong.”

Kenzie frowned. “You’re probably right, but just make sure that you let whoever it is know that you might not have a lot of work for them over the winter. You might need the help while you’re first getting started but remember that things do die off around here during the quiet season.”

“Yeah, I was thinking about that,” said Xander. He looked at Tori. “We should definitely let her know that we aren’t going to be able to guarantee a set number of hours or anything – at least to start with.”

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